According to Bob McKenzie, the Flames have put Ales Kotalik on re-entry waivers this morning. The move could be for the purposes of recalling him (unlikely) or to allow someone else to scoop him at half his current price for this year and next. If Kotalik does get claimed, the Flames will have $1.5M in dead cap space on their budget next season.

Also of interest is the fact that Nikolai Zherdev was placed on waivers by the Flyers today. The forever maligned russian actually has excellent underlying numbers in Philly this year so I don't know what the issue is with him, but he's a guy who could be worth a look for Calgary. It's a move Darryl Sutter never would have made, so if Feaster wants to start putting his own stamp on the team, claiming Zherdev would be a step in that direction.

What if there's a "gentleman's agreement" where Philly puts Zherdev on waivers for us to grab, and in return the Flames give them Kotalik at half price? (i have no idea where Kotalik would fit in on that team) ---just reaching, and reaching to make sense of that Kotalik move.

My guess is ownership is willing to bury 1 of Kotalik or Hagman moving forward, but not both. If Kotalik is claimed, that eats up $1.5M in cap space, but then if Hagman is sent down, it will free up $3M in cap space. Total net gain = an additional $1.5M in cap room.

So the question is, is it better to spend $1.5M on nothing or $3M on Hagman?

Also to note, only 4 flames skaters have more goals than Zherdev on the season, and that's with Zherdev playing a majority of 4th line minutes and limited powerplay minutes, with an average of around 12 minutes.

My guess is ownership is willing to bury 1 of Kotalik or Hagman moving forward, but not both. If Kotalik is claimed, that eats up $1.5M in cap space, but then if Hagman is sent down, it will free up $3M in cap space. Total net gain = an additional $1.5M in cap room.

So the question is, is it better to spend $1.5M on nothing or $3M on Hagman?

Well, you have to take into account whoever is replacing Hagman in the line-up in that equation I guess. If it's a 500k player, then I guess it does make sense.

My guess is ownership is willing to bury 1 of Kotalik or Hagman moving forward, but not both. If Kotalik is claimed, that eats up $1.5M in cap space, but then if Hagman is sent down, it will free up $3M in cap space. Total net gain = an additional $1.5M in cap room.

So the question is, is it better to spend $1.5M on nothing or $3M on Hagman?

Hard to say - Will Hagman ever start putting up points, or is he done for good ala Jeff Friesen?

Also to note, only 4 flames skaters have more goals than Zherdev on the season, and that's with Zherdev playing a majority of 4th line minutes and limited powerplay minutes, with an average of around 12 minutes.

Yup. Zherdev has been killing third liners this year in Philly in terms of underlying numbers. I really have no idea why he's getting the bums rush out of there. He's basically been what they must have expected, at least in terms of on-ice performance.

If Kotalik is claimed on re entry and then goes to the KHL in the off season, does that 1.5 mil come off the books next year as well?

At this point, whichever of the two will play better defense, (Hagman) should play, this move is just ridiculous. But if he is picked up, that should signal the end of any trade talk as our cap space would be almost completely eaten up.

If Kotalik is claimed on re entry and then goes to the KHL in the off season, does that 1.5 mil come off the books next year as well?

At this point, whichever of the two will play better defense, (Hagman) should play, this move is just ridiculous. But if he is picked up, that should signal the end of any trade talk as our cap space would be almost completely eaten up.

Nope. If Kots gets claimed, Flames are stuck with that 1.5M whatever happens.

Assuming Hagman goes down, I would agree. But kotaliks salary is already off the books, so we would be adding back 1.5 to our cap through a kotalik waiver pickup, which puts us to just over a million in cap space. Moving Hagman would be the only option at that point. We couldn't just bring in a player, like we currently could without this waiver nonsense. Or moved Hagman down with Kotalik, or out, and then we would be in a better situation then having Kotalik claimed. I'm sure the millions they earned over the weekend could go to paying hagman to play with the Heat.

Makes me start doubting Feaster again. How he couldn't get a pick for Hagman, and now re-calling Kotalik. If something bigger isn't in the works, this whole situation looks to have been buggered up by Feaster, and probably puts in a worse situation cap wise next year than any of us would like!

On a side note, this would be better then a buy out right? A buy out next summer would have 1.5 mil on the cap for next year and the year after, I guess this moves it up one year..

Makes me start doubting Feaster again. How he couldn't get a pick for Hagman, and now re-calling Kotalik. If something bigger isn't in the works, this whole situation looks to have been buggered up by Feaster, and probably puts in a worse situation cap wise next year than any of us would like!

On a side note, this would be better then a buy out right? A buy out next summer would have 1.5 mil on the cap for next year and the year after, I guess this moves it up one year..

AK's total buyout is 2M, with a cap hit of 1M each of the next two years.

Fair enough, so they still have room to bring someone in, but from all the TSN, Sportsnet talk they keep mention how we have no cap space, or only 1 mil in cap space. I just i'm not up on Capology as i thought :)

Either way, at this point, I would rather not move anyone of value until the offseason, if that causes us to lose glencross, thats a risk i'm willing to take to see what this team can do.

I think Tanguay would resign here before anywhere else, so i'm not worried there. But that 1.5 mil in cap space next year needs to go to these guys, and not Kotalik!

I can't see anyone picking him up. Not when Zherdev and Svatos are both also on waivers and there's no commitment to them next year. If you want a mercurial offense only winger Kotalik would be your last choice out of those three.

This strikes me as more about letting him know that no one in the league will take him at that contract. After this they will have exhausted all trade and waiver possibilities, so he'll know that the only possibilities are to stay in Abbotsford or go to Europe.

People at the office complaining that he's a lazy bum, but he beats the snot out of lesser competition and is scoring goals. Calgary could use him if they could get him motivated, and it's a UFA deal at the end of the season. Zero risk associated.

Generally speaking, yes. Front or back loading a contract will skew that, though. Matt Satjan has three years at 3.5M left, but his buyout isn't 2/3 of 10.5 M. It's 2/3 of 9.5M, since the Flames are paying him 4.5M this year in actual cash.

I work with government contracts and contracting regulations on a daily basis and the CBA section on LTIR makes them look like light toilet reading.

Likewise. I have a 200 page CBA that I work under with a surprising number of similarities to the NHL CBA, especially regarding the concepts of seniority, but parts of the NHL CBA are so poorly written that there are more than a few club employees on various teams that struggle comprehending it.

Assuming a player who clears re-entry waivers has the same 10 game/30 day window to be recalled, then this could be a move where the team hopes nothing happens. If we come to the point where we decide we need Kotalik recalled (i.e.: due to injury), having him cleared now gives the team greater flexibility.